Lesson 2 - 1789 – The impact of the French Revolution
Initially the Swiss Ancien Régime was able to contain the influence of the French Revolution. For example, the Vaudois peasantry, like the peasants in the later European revolutions of 1830 had no rebellious traditions and often supported the Berne government. The most important developments were led by Swiss exiled intellectuals, who for example, formed the Club Helvétique in Paris in 1790. One of the most influential of these was Frédéric-César de La Harpe a lawyer from Rolle.
De La Harpe Island, Rolle, Vaud.
Born in 1754, Frédéric-César de La Harpe, was a brilliant student who gained his doctorate in law at the age of 20. He left Vaud in 1782 because of his opposition to the rule of the Gracious Lords of Berne. He ended up employed in the court of Catherine the Great of Russia who appointed him as tutor to her grandsons, including the future of Tsar, Alexander of Russia. This lifelong friendship resulted in the important support of Alexander I at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 in which Vaud retained its independence from Berne that had been established during the Napoleonic period. The artificial island was dedicated to La Harpe on his death in 1838, it contains a 13-metre-high obelisk built in his honour.
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In Switzerland itself, the most significant support for the French Revolution was to be found in Vaud. Open-air political banquets were held to commemorate key events in the revolution. At Ouchy (see image and film below), Rolle and Vevey demonstrators waved the tricolour flag and wore revolutionary caps of liberty. They made toasts to the revolution and to Vaudois independence and petitioned the Berne government for tax cuts and political reform.
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The response from Berne was typically counter-revolutionary. The government-imposed censorship and condemned La Harpe and his brother in their absence, but repression proved ineffective. Riots in Lausanne were followed later by clashes in Neuchatel and Geneva which appealed to France for support. In 1794 a revolutionary constitution was established in Geneva the canton was annexed and become part of France by 1798. In 1793 there was a revolt against taxes at Gossau (St. Gallen) and in 1794 in Stäfa (Zurich) peasants asked for the restauration of old political rights, granted by documents dating back to 1489 and 1532, that had gradually been eroded in the previous two centuries. |
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When the French Revolution turned radical after 1792, (e.g. massacre of the Swiss Guards at the Tuileries palace in Paris) the conservative Swiss Confederacy broke with its traditional friendship with France and although it remained neutral in the European wars that followed, it readily welcomed fleeing French aristocrats and continued to resist domestic reform.
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The French invasion of 1798.
In 1797 the French Directory staged a coup d’état in Paris. One of the leaders of the coup Reubell began discussions with La Harpe and Peter Ochs of Basel to consider the possibility of French intervention in Switzerland. France was interested in resources and access to Italy, La Harpe and Ochs were interested in implementing the political reforms of the Club Helvétique. In the end, the French invasion and the collapse of the Ancien Régime was quick and relatively bloodless. On 9 December 1797, Frédéric-César de La Harpe, asked France to invade Bern to protect Vaud. By February 1798, French troops occupied Mulhouse and Biel/Bienne. In Basel, ‘patriots’ drew up a new constitution and set up a first Swiss national assembly. |
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Phrygian cap, cockade and seal stamp at the Bern Historical Museum.
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In Vaud, patriots seized Château Chillon and the Lemanic Republic was proclaimed. All over Switzerland thousands of liberty trees, often crowned with a ‘Tell Cap’, (See Basel above) were erected as symbols of support for the revolution. Importantly, all of these steps were supported by French troops.
Throughout Switzerland revolutions and revolts toppled the governments of the Ancien Régime and abolished feudalism. The Confederation Diet broke up deeply divided and without taking any steps to prevent the French invasion. On 5 March, French troops entered Berne and the Confederation collapsed. By April the whole of the country was under French occupation. Back in late 1797, it had been the young French general Napoleon Bonaparte who had pressed the French Directory to occupy Switzerland. Before we continue the story of the Swiss revolution we need to take a step back to look at the career of the Corsican military genius who would have such an impact of the history of Switzerland. |
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Activities
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